The third time at the Esso Cup might be the charm for the Edmonton Thunder.
The fourth place finishers at the inaugural 2009 tournament and bronze medallists last year have their sights set on winning gold at the national female midget hockey championship at Servus Credit Union Place.
"There is some unfinished business," said Bryan Keller, head coach of the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League champions and Pacific region playoff winners.
The Thunder are a battle-hardened group with 14 returnees in the line-up, including five third-year players.
"We're definitely going to rely on those players that have gone through this before," said Keller, the league's coach of the year in his first season with the Thunder. "I really believe I have a group of winners. A good portion of our players had success last year and even the year before. They have that knack and they know how to win."
Resilience and character played a major role in the Thunder going 27-0-5 in league play and 8-3 in the playoffs. They also swept the Thompson-Okanagan Rockets 4-2 and 8-1 in the best-of-three Pacific qualifier.
"They've been through a lot of big things this year; being at the Mac's [silver medallists], having an undefeated season and being one game away from being eliminated [by the Red Deer Chiefs in the league final]," Keller said. "We had a lot of pressure on us because we were trying to go undefeated and it had never been done in the regular season but the girls stuck together. They've had a bull's-eye on their backs from the Mac's and throughout the regular season and they always pulled through. When we had adversity pop up, that winning attitude just stepped up to the forefront."
In the final against Red Deer the Thunder rallied from a 2-1 series deficit after dropping game three 4-3 in double overtime on the road. They rebounded to win game four 3-0 in Red Deer and completed the weekend comeback with a 4-2 decision in the fifth and deciding game.
"Our girls were beat up and tired but they came back the next day, well not even the next day but 12 hours later, and played probably our best game of the year [in game four]. I can honestly say for 60 minutes we controlled the game from start to finish. We then came back home and won it," Keller said. "I don't think too much rattles the girls and that's going to be big at the Esso Cup. It's going to be a long tournament and very similar to the Mac's. There is going to be a lot of ups and downs and we've just got to roll with it and stick together and hope that we win our last game."
Dynamic line-up
The medal contenders are built on skill, speed and strength.
"We have a lot of balance. I don't think we have that one player that dominates any one position," Keller said.
The Thunder roster features captain Heather Kashman, a gold medallist with U18 Alberta at the Canada Winter Games, all-star defenceman Stephanie Zvonkovic and Kirsten Reeves, the team's top playoff scorer. All three will graduate to university hockey in the fall.
"Heather was the MVP of the league and well deserved. I always call her Steve Yzerman with a little bit more edge. She does everything well. She is a good offensive player [18-22-40 in 31 games] and great defensively. She is tough and plays physical when she has to. She is a great leader on and off the ice. She is the one that really stirs the drink," Keller said.
"Stephanie has been our MVP in the playoffs without a doubt. She is a great leader and is nothing short of being a warrior. She blocks about 1,000 shots. She's got more compete and battle in her than anybody I've coached, girls or guys, without question. She does everything well. I always match her up against the top offensive units.
"Kirsten is probably our most dynamic offensive player [22-16-38 in 32 games]. She has been great for us in the playoffs [6-7-13 in 11 games] and had some big, big goals. When she is on her game she is tough to stop because she is so skilled and so big."
Tough competition
The Thunder will need every player to step it up in Sunday's Esso Cup opener against the Notre Dame Hounds, last year's silver medallists. Puck drop is 4 p.m. at Performance Arena.
"We know we'll have our hands full right off the hop on Sunday," Keller said. "Notre Dame is the best team on paper in all honesty and they should be obviously. They recruit from everywhere so they will be good."
Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. tilt against the host St. Albert Slash should also be a barnburner. The Slash handed the Thunder their first loss in the league fixtures, 3-2 in game two of the north final March 6 at Performance.
"It's probably our biggest rivalry. I never have to say a whole lot to get the girls excited to play the St. Albert Slash. They're a very good hockey team and they've got some very dynamic players," Keller said. "Usually your host team doesn't have a great chance of winning but they're going to have as good a chance as anybody, especially being at home and knowing their rink very well. If teams don't get on their top end players they're going to get woken up and find out in a hurry how good the Slash are."
In league and playoffs combined the Thunder are 6-1-1 against the Slash.
"They've all been close games so I expect nothing but the same come Tuesday," said Keller, a former St. Albert Saints assistant coach who is the St. Francis Xavier Hockey Academy director. "We have to make sure we take away their top end players and that was the reason for the success we had against them. If we can shut down [Karly] Heffernan and [Jessica] Kampjes and [Melissa] Kueber, you have a really good chance of winning because that's where the majority of their offence comes from. Hopefully we can do it one more time and you never know, you might have to play them a second time."
